Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Good morning. Lovely roses @Ladybird4.

I'm currently soaking my feet cos my gardening grubby heels need a good scrub before we get ready to go to the braderie at La Tanche where tat street will be selling off its summer stock at up to 50% off. I'm on the lookout for sandals and Possum loves a browse. We'll have lunch out at one of the summer cabins that sets up in the main square and does fish and chips.

Can't get sweet peas to grow well here @Goldenlily26 as it's too hot. Even if I start them in autumn they only last a couple of weeks once flowering starts and never flower generously. Hope you're not too tired after yesterday.

Have a lovely day everyone. Enjoy your coffees @Ladybird4 and @Busy-Lizzie.

 

Good morning all

Very mild again outside, but the sun is struggling to break through. I think we might have a similar day today as yesterday. We had a lovely visit to my niece yesterday for a barbecue, and it was lovely sitting in the garden - it was warm but without the sun beating down (I struggle to sit for long in hot sunshine), which made for a very pleasant afternoon.

Church this morning and then I think I might do a bit of deadheading and general tidying in the garden.

I hope everyone has a good day.

 

Last night exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, we were among the last to arrive and most chairs were taken, so hub and I didn't sit together. This actually proved a good thing, as he was chatting to another local couple, who were both from Liverpool too. i met a couple who are adopting another springer, so we had a lot to chat about and have swapped phone nos.
The singer, age 19, had a phenomenal voice and a good repertoire. The food (nibbles) was OK and I meant to go in for cheese and biscuits, but got caught in springer talk!
I was on the Nosecco, so we had a G n T back at the van, disecting the evening.
Was nice to get dressed up for a change, too.
We are taking Gin to Farm and Pet to buy him a new collar, ID tag and bed.

 

How lovely that you had a good time, @Penny_Forthem, despite not looking forward to it. Often works out like that. Sounds like Gin is settling in well!
Don’t overdo it, @Goldenlily26, you don’t want a relapse.
Yesterday was a bit of a flop. We worked hard in the morning, moving slate clippings, and came in for a late lunch. Got a bit drowsy after the homemade burgers, so we thought we’d have a short nap. Woke up in time for supper and bed!
Both been busy this morning though. I’ve weeded my flower bed, and OH is hard at work painting skirting boards and architrave, and replacing some of the old thresholds in the corridor.
After I’ve finished my cold drink ( a canned mix of cherry juice and sparkling water, to which I’ve added a few fresh cherries, very elegant!) I’m going to find my edging shears and tidy round the flower bed and the lawn. Daughter will be coming to stay next weekend, so it’s nice to have an incentive to make an effort.
Lunch will be very late today, chicken Kyiv with roast potatoes, OH will probably watch some women’s rugby and doze off afterwards!

 

Sounds good to me @Penny_Forthem and of course he needs his own new collar and lead and bed. We got Bonzo free but by the time I'd bought him his own cage, bed, collar, lead, toys and all the vetting - health check, vaccines, neutering, flea/ticks/worms and microchip - he became quite an investment. Worth every cent tho.

We use guests as incentive too @Ergates for a spring clean indoors and a tidy up outdoors. On Sundays we're always busy gardening, house stuff or OH's golf so we have dinner rather than lunch. Very hot out there so tonight it's roast chicken with Mexican spicing and salads. Small portions as we did have lunch out today but the rest of the chicken will do for Possum's lunches next week.

I had hake and chips with fresh caught local hake and a very good batter. I had a raspberry tartlet for pud and had to eat it very carefully as all the raspberry coulis and icing sugar they drizzled all over the plate attracted a very insistent wasp. Last blow out now till Mabon - Celtic harvest feast at the equinox - altho we might have visitors next week and they'll need feeding well.

Flopalot now as it's hotter than predicted so we're sheletring indoors in the cool.

 

Afternoon all, we've done nothing all day! Too lazy by half, sis is still here, sleeps badly then sleeps late so we had a lie in as well - it is a Sunday after all. Her friend came for dinner last night so we dashed out to a local farmshop to buy steaks, mushrooms and garlic with strawberries and double cream for afters. Sis did all the cooking (she used to be a chef in a pub) but I was allowed to be a helper. A good time was had by all.

I've put a box of fallen apples out on the drive in the hope that somebody might take them away - my small freezer is full and we've even started on picking all the apples yet. Can't decide whether to pick them before the weather changes or afterwards when they will have absorbed more moisture?

It's proving a merry go round on the insurance claim. Our insurers said we weren't covered and told us to approach the Council who promptly referred the claim to their insurers so that's who we're dealing with at the moment. Tricky, as everybody says. I'll probably give up soon but aim to give them grief a bit longer just for the hell of it.

Apparently the Red Arrows were over Sidmouth @Ergates for a Festival? I would have loved to see them, there was a smashing picture of them in the daily paper today.

 

Got back home from the car show. Our car won 3 trophies. One for best in class. One for best modified, and one a Celebrity choice. And some nice person did a video of her, posted on You tube. So here she is again. The only Sasha.

 

Evening all. Tea/Coffee morning went well this morning and there were many takers for the left over cakes. This month was a trial run as we usually used to leave August free but I requested the usual 2nd and 4th Sunday in the month to be as normal and it proved to be popular so I hope we will keep it all year round now allowing for our Fairs and Quiz night, which my friends and I organise, etc. @Goldenlily26 I was detecting a definite echo in your earlier post! @Blue arbour, the BBQ sounded very pleasant - nice enough to sit out without feeling toasted. Pleased your evening wasn't as bad as you had anticipated @Penny_Forthem. Is Gin all kitted out now?
Did you find sandals to suit at the braderie @Obelix-Vendée? Its interesting to read about you having hake as when I was young (aeons ago!) I remember going to the fish and chip shop for my great aunts and they always asked for hake. Being in the north east and not too far from fishing boats coming in, hake was always available. Gosh @lizzie27 what an absolute pain it can be dealing with councils.

 

I am signing out for today. Hope that you all have wonderful evenings.

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No sandals for me @Ladybird4 but I did a cotton short for OH - navy blue flower motif on a white background which will go very well with hos new blue linen trousers I have yet to lae for dancing. waiting for it to be cool enough to wear the trial pair I made in camel coloured cotton. Possum bought 2 pairs of sunglasses for 20€ and a turquoise and sliver ring.

@lizzie27 have you tried suggesting to the council that you and your insurance company may sue them for negligence in planting birch trees so close to houses that their roots dive up their drains and cause damage? It worked for us in Belgium when the poor state of the road in front of our house led to us having "earthquakes" that led to CH piping bursting under the tiled floor and water seeping up the walls. We needed to have our floors relaid and ground floor plastering re-done, after being hacked off and dried out. Loads of fun.

Our insurance company piad for seismologists to measure and we were just below the naughty threshold by about .but the council re-did the road surface and put up speed limit signs. Worked a treat but the insurance had to pick up the bill for all our repairs.

I have spent some of my pm sunbathing and reading my Kindle in a bid to lose the flip flop stripes on my feet and then placing an order for patterns from Sew Direct as they have a 50% off everything offer this BH weekend.

 

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Good morning everyone. Happy Bank Holiday if you have one this Monday. I am looking forward to a quiet day at home - grocery delivery this aft. I am also working on a project for the tables on tea/coffee mornings. I have been knitting flowers (daisies at the moment) and attaching them to green bendy straws by pulling a length of yarn through the straw on a needle. I also found a free pattern for knitting leaves and have learned how to make an i-cord.
Here is a pic of where I'm up to so far:

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Still have leaves to attach - pondering several different methods, so once completed I'll post more pics.

 

Good morning to you all!!

The mornings are much fresher now but Fizz and I were out at 7am even so. It's rather nice thing to do and then I can dawdle over breakfast and scroll through messages.

It's overcast this morning with intermittent sun.

Lovely knitted flowers @Ladybird Glad your connection issues have been solved. I'd murder a good plate of fish and chips @Obelix-Vendée There used to be a good restaurant in Beziers run by an Englishman but he has since folded and now has a food truck. Funnily enough, the packet is only lukewarm by the time you get it home and he doesn't come around here very often.

Friday night went well with another late night. Lots of chitter chatter and plenty of food - one woman brought a lovely quiche - nobody drank too much. I'm going to have a quiet day today and do some cooking for the freezer - I have a glut of aubergines - they do melt down to almost nothing and caviar is always handy and freezes well. Today, I will do fried aubergines, onions and peppers for lunch - I have a few slices of duck breast left over.

Enjoy your bank holiday. Today is the day that most workers are back to work and the summer is drawing to an end .... except for the lucky people who live on the coast and get to have the beach to themselves!!

 

I worked myself to a standstill again. Did a small amount more of de-mossing, weeding, then watering before sitting down to hard prune my lavender. It now looks as if it has had a bad No 1 haircut, the Senecio is next on my list. I must
water the greenhouse and runner beans before the tail end of the hurricane comes through.
I was listening to an "expert" on the radio warning about the dangers of the incoming storm, they are expecting sudden 3 metre waves along the South coast and unusually strong rip currents, they are predicting people on beaches, not necessarily in the water but on the waters edge, and fishing on rocks will be at high risk. There are still so many holiday makers down here I hope they all listen and stay away from the waters edge. It is tempting and exciting to go and"wave watch".

Go for it Lizzie. Does your local council not have a "Care of the community" something or other. They are ducking out of their obligations because the trees were planted by someone else and before existing regulations were brought in, there must be some way around their refusal to take responsibility. Will the existing tree need to have major roots cut and removed to enable you to have the remedial work required, carried out? Will this mean the tree will ultimately need to be taken down? Why were the other trees removed? The council are now responsible for the safety of residents in accommodation close to their boundaries. Power to you, give them as much grief as you can!

It seems to be getting hotter rapidly so not sure how much I will be able to do outside today. The last two days have been ideal working conditions, I am slowly getting stiffer and achier as each day goes by.

 

Good morning. Forecast now says today will be hotter than yesterday so, once again, no gardening other than watering after 8pm so it has all night to soak in before being burned off.

The new fridge freezer is due sometime this week so I've been getting the dead freezer ready to be moved out to the garage ready for a trip to the dump and moving th ehalf dead fridge freezer into the annex so I can get "freezer corner" cleaned and ready. I've even cleaned all 3 windows and 2 doors in the annex - covered in fly poos and plenty of outside cobwebs in the window under the wisteria.

GP this pm for general check up for both of us and a new gout prescription for OH. I wish osteo- arthritis was as easily preventable tho I understand the Germans have recently developed an injectable gel for dodgy knees and hips which will, when fully tested and approved, save on prosthetics.

I used to like aubergines cooked as parmigiana @Tui34 but can't cope with the texture in anything now. That makes roast med veggies a bit limited now Possum says she doesn't like roast cherry tomatoes.

Take it easy @Goldenlily26. Think tortoise, not hare, when it comes to doing all your jobs.

Back to my cleaning then. Have a happy Monday everyone.

PS - clever, those flowers @Ladybird4

 

Is this the last 'hurrah' of summer?
We have thin cloud and a breeze, so the temperature is pegged back.
I am feeling guilty, as we haven't popped home to water, as we normally do. The toms should
be OK in their quadgrows, hopefully.
Yes, Gin is all kitted out and legal with a dark greeny turquoise collar and tag. Looks perfect against his 'ginger' coat. He also has a comfy bed, which he takes himself off to. Must be terribly disorientating for a dog to move to a new home. He'll need time, but he loves company too.
Lovely flowers @Ladybird4 .